Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I received an email inviting me to read The Long Game, and it came at the perfect time! I had just finished reading a string of novels that were all pretty dark in subject matter, so I was in the mood for a fun, lighthearted read. I've heard of Elena Armas's previous books, but I have never gotten around to picking one up. The description of The Long Game sounded adorable: a romcom in the vein of Ted Lasso, set in a small American town, with goats, fall festivals, and cute cottages? Sign me up! This story has the foundations of a really great novel, but unfortunately, it was not executed as well as it could have been.

Adalyn Reyes works for the Miami Flames FC - a club she is aspiring to someday lead. One day, she is caught on camera ripping the head off of the team's mascot in a heated exchange. The recording goes viral, and her father (the club's owner) sends her to a small North Carolina town to work for a girls' soccer team until the drama blows over. Much to Adalyn's dismay, a grumpy former professional English football star, Cameron Caldani, is coaching the team... and turns out to be her neighbor. Can she manage to work with him to steer the team to success? Or will the romantic tension between them only further complicate everything?

This is a difficult book to rate, because it has all of the elements to make up a delightful romance. There's an endearing setting, unique side characters, fun activities happening around town, and an attractive love interest - even mischievous animals pop up here and there. So, it should be a fun read. However, I found the story to be very difficult to get through, especially through the first 60%. It does get better after that, but if this hadn't been a NetGalley book, I would have almost certainly given up on it before then. I'll try to explain my biggest issues with The Long Game, because if these were fixed, I believe the novel would have been so much better.

First, the story starts off in a rather unbelievable way. I never bought into the setup of Adalyn's altercation with the mascot going so viral to the point where she is shipped off to the middle of nowhere to work with a team of mostly nine year-olds. Viral videos occur every day; they are often forgotten as quickly as they appear. I could never really see how the video was so bad that the only way for the team to not completely fall apart was to have Adalyn physically removed from Florida. Additionally, the team of girls Adalyn is sent to manage also feels random. The team's importance is eventually explained, but I spent 80% of the book wondering why a professional Florida soccer club would care about a small town's team of children in North Carolina. Adalyn's first interaction with Cameron is unrealistic, as well, and they both react so rudely to one another. Both of the characters are whiny, quick to anger, and hate each other without much of a reason. So, it was tough to get through this when everything felt so unrealistic, with unlikable characters on top of it all.

Additionally, there is far too much unnecessary repetition. It becomes truly grating to read if you are someone who gets annoyed by repeated phrases and actions. Adalyn hates being called anything but "Adalyn." That's fine, but she thinks about it and chastises people about it constantly. Cameron immediately calls her "darling" and "love," which, naturally, she hates. No matter how much she complains, he says it in what feels like every conversation with her. The characters are also repeatedly doing the same things, way more frequently than anyone would in real life. Cam is always humming, growling, and grunting. Adalyn is extremely clumsy and falls down at what appears to be every opportunity, which is then followed by Cam constantly picking her up. I legitimately had to take reading breaks, because I was so frustrated at reading the same details over and over.

The other major problem I noticed was the pacing. This book feels so long. There is a lot going on: the characters are coaching the kids team, Adalyn and Cam sign up to attend a list of town events throughout the season, the cottage where Adalyn is staying is a wreck, so there are many attempts to fix it up... and so on. Adalyn and Cam bicker nonstop, all the while growing more attracted to each other. The author tries to shove so much into this story, but she never gives each individual chapter enough time to develop and wrap up whatever scene is taking place at the time.

I am a sucker for cute, fluffy elements in romance. I love it when the characters are breathing in the autumn air as they sip on their hot cocoa and flirt under falling orange leaves. You get the picture. I thought this book was going to contain many charming moments, but it felt like most of the opportunities for sweet exchanges (there's a fall fair, a "Beer, Barbecue, and Boogie by the Lake," etc.) were short and skimmed over, and instead, most of the development between the love interests occurred at random times, such as on the property they shared or after practice. These scenes could have been merged together to create more genuine, sweet moments and to cut down on some of the unnecessary chapters. It would have made the pacing so much faster.

There are also very strange time jumps that skip over important character development. The one that annoyed me the most was after the first time the characters truly open up to each other, they apparently fall asleep on the couch. We go from them having a serious conversation to a time skip where they wake up the next day, and it took me so long to piece together what had happened (did they kiss? Did they cuddle? Adalyn explains it so vaguely in retrospect), when we could have just read about it as it occurred. Instead of jumping ahead, Armas should have let the scenes throughout the story play out in the moment for the characters.

This book isn't all bad. I struggled with rating this two stars versus three, because the last third did actually pick up quite a bit. Once the real romance started, it was more interesting to read. I liked Adalyn and Cameron as characters after they got over their initial hang-ups with each other and opened up. I found Adalyn's struggles of being perceived as cold and forgettable to be relatable. I also enjoyed reading about her feelings of female rage after working so hard towards her career goals, only to be manipulated by men. Cameron is an appealing love interest. He gives off strong Roy Kent vibes (although, I wish he had been developed a little more - I never quite understood what made him switch from hating Adalyn to wanting to give her the world). I liked how much Cam built Adalyn up and ensured she was protected. By the end of the novel, I found myself invested in their relationship and the small town.

A strong ending does not make up for the absolute slog it was to get there, though. Some parts of the novel were, in my opinion, pretty poorly written. It also felt as if everything except Adalyn and Cameron's relationship was put on a back burner about a mile away. For example, the novel hardly focused on the girls soccer team at all. I'm not even really sure how Adalyn was helping the team, beyond organizing them a bit. When it was important to her and Cam's relationship, sure, the team appeared. However, their games and their development as a team were barely shown. I expect the relationship in a romance novel to be at the center of the story, but the other elements that help a romance story stand out - such as the side characters, the plot, and the setting - should not be thrown completely to the wayside, either.

There is some heart to this story, and if it were better edited (with some chapters rewritten to cut down on the unnecessary scenes), it could truly be a good book. Even with as many issues as I had while reading, I still felt connected to the characters by the end. There's a hint that there may be a second novel set in the town, and I would even consider reading it. However, I can't really recommend this story as it is. There is too much going on, with threads that are not connected and far too much repetition. If you're very into love stories between grumpy characters, men helping women learn to put themselves first, and romances where the two main characters are always front and center together, you may enjoy this read. I would argue there is a plethora of other romances out there, though, that tie everything together better than The Long Game.

2.5 stars out of 5 stars, rounded down because I was just too bored and irritated for the first half to make up for the positive development at the end.

Excellent, slow burn chemistry between the couple. One issue was with inconsistency with the female protagonist and her story.

I saw this compared to Ted Lasso and was like heck yes!! Unfortunately The Long Game didn't really give me that vibe, and I struggled to get into it.

I want to thank Atria publishing, Elena Armas, and NetGalley for sending me an advanced readers copy of the Long Game to read in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read this new one by Armas because I love her other books! I have to say that I had a hard time putting this book down once I got started! I was obsessed with finishing it and seeing where the story would end up! I was very excited to find out that this was essentially a sports romance, which I have been obsessed with recently! I was also very excited for the enemies to lovers trope, another positive in this book! This slow burn romance, with double POV, was extremely cute! I felt myself getting attached to the characters and the town they lived in with all their fall activities! It made for lots of laughs, especially with the goats!

However, the beginning was VERY confusing to me and there were just some parts throughout the book that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me about how the character behaved. That very first chapter you are thrown in by witnessing the video of Adalyn attacking the club mascot, finding out it goes viral, and the Adalyn basically losing her job without the opportunity to explain to the club owner, her father, while her ex-boyfriend is in the room mocking her. It definitely setup for major drama, however it didn’t feel like it flowed well at the beginning. But after a few chapters, things started to make sense and we started to get the laughs in.

Overall, I give this book a 3.5⭐️ out of 5, but I am rounding up to 4! I definitely recommend reading this book when it comes out September 5th!

Elena Armas has done it again, The Long Game will have you in your feels. It’s a slow burn enemies to lover with a retired English footballer that will have you swooning every time he says “love”.

There’s goats, cats, and a wise and funny 9 year old that will steal your heart. This small town romance is perfect to read during the fall cozied up with a warm cup of coffee.

When I heard this was compared to Ted Lasso, my Jason Sudekis loving heart couldn't request the ARC fast enough. I'd parsed NetGalley for days, then snagged it.

Adalyn is sent to North Carolina when a scandal breaks out at the Miami Heat soccer club her father owns. I never really did understand what the scandal was, but c'est la vie. When she gets to North Carolina, she meets Cameron, also sent to NC as a sort of recovery mission because of some things that are divulged in later in the book. Through truly rom com circumstances, they of course fall for one another. Fair warning: This one is a S L O W burn. And while I was feeling angsty for them, I also sort of loved it.

I didn't love the book as much as I thought I would. It was easy to put down and do things like... clean my dishwasher. I'd recommend it to romance lovers, but I don't think it will be a title I reread.

Thanks, NetGalley!

What drew me to this book was the appeal of it having similar "vibes" to the tv show, "Ted Lasso". What I didn't expect was to constantly feel like the main character was literally Roy Kent, and not in a good way. While I appreciated the development of the main characters, I couldn't get over the constant "love", and "darling", over and over and over again...was it supposed to be satire? Is this how all soccer/football players from London speak? It was so clunky and repetitive, I found myself skipping over sections when I saw it would be Cameron speaking.
The way that the chapters ended was also cumbersome. For instance, the two main character are by the lake, and the blind goat goes into the water...then the next chapter starts and its a day later, with something completely new happening.
While I've never read any of Elena Armas other works, starting off with this one would not draw me to read anymore of them.

I don’t think Elena Armas is for me. I read Spanish Love Deception and didn’t care for it. The same things that bothered me in that one bothered me here too. The main female character falls at least four times and the main male is always catching her. Same in SLD. Just not my cup of tea. Also, the book is a little long for my taste and could use some editing to get rid of some of the falling down instances and redundancies, especially in the beginning of the book.

Just not my favorite, but I feel like if you loved SLD, you’ll like this!

Thank you to @atriabooks for the ARC.

This was a fun enemies-to-lover story, fans of Elena Armas or Mia Sheridan's "Kulti" will be excited by this latest title.

I will purchase this for my library based on the popularity of Armas's previous books, but I don't think this one was as good as her other books. I enjoyed both main characters and the kids on the soccer team were really fun.

This was one of the best slow burn romances I’ve ever read. The pacing, the banter, the humor, and even the ongoing conflict and tension between the characters was so well done. The story itself had me absolutely locked in from the start, and then I fell in love with the characters, the town, the adorable misfit soccer team.

The Long Game has:
- Enemies to lovers
- Slow burn
- Soccer/sports stories in the vein of Ted Lasso
- Baby goats
- A HOT grumpy soccer coach that loves animals
- A hot mess executive on a mission
- Justified female rage
- Hilarious underdog soccer team of little girls
- Small town charm
- So much bantering

I was obsessed with this story and literally everything about it. When I saw in the blurb that the story was in the vein of It Happened One Summer and Ted Lasso my hopes were sky high, and then promptly blown out of the water. I knew I was going to give this five stars way before I was done reading because it was that much fun of an experience throughout.

<I> Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. </I>

TW// panic attacks, mentions of bullying, mentions of death (mother and grandmother)

I have heard nothing but good things about Elena Armas’ books, so when I got an email saying I could read this book on NetGalley, I hopped on the opportunity. The synopsis sounded really cute and I was looking forward to reading a fun romance.

However, things started to feel disappointing with this book right away. I hated Adalyn and Cameron right off the bat. They were both cocky, controlling, and honestly really insufferable. Adalyn wanted extreme control of her life and I get that she needed to be confident to maintain that control, but she still got on my nerves with how full of herself she was. Cameron was worse than Adalyn. He was controlling of the relationship and it gave me massive ick. Cameron felt like he needed to be a knight in shining armor for Adalyn instead of letting her deal with her own problems. He claimed he didn’t want to do that, but all of his actions after he started falling for her really boiled down to his need to “save” her. It got on my nerves so much, especially since I have experience with guys who think they're a knight in shining armor.

I was also getting nonstop second hand embarassment from how physical they’d get around other people. I get that they want to be physical with each other, but they’re literally working with a kids soccer team in an extremely smalltown. They’ve got to control their desires in public a little better.

Speaking of romance, this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers, but their whole reason for being enemies frustrated me. They were both too stubborn to admit that they could be wrong, so because of that they feuded with each other nonstop. Their first encounter was definitely awkward, but it was no reason to be enemies for so long.

I was hoping that the side characters would carry the story for me, but they didn’t at all. I found all the side characters annoying, especially Josie and the kids. It was super unrealistic, too, to have a nine year old kid give a speech like what a therapist would give. What should’ve been a powerful moment in the book turned into a cringey moment for me because it was a freaking nine year old child giving the life advice.

I hated how Elena Armas would jump from scene to scene with her writing. I’m not sure if it’s like this in her other books, but a scene would occur that seemed like it would be the start of a steamy or powerful scene… but then it would abruptly fastfoward to a new day. I desperately needed those scenes to be completely finished because I was curious about what would happen next, but most of the scenes felt incomplete from all the time jumps.

There were some loose ends in this book that frustrated me. Whatever happened with the chicken? And where’s the resolution to the energy drink drama? Plus, it’s clear that Matthew had some romantic feelings for Adalyn - why didn’t the story ever address that?

One last criticism before I dive into my two positives to this book: I hated how much “darling” and “love” were used in here. I was on the verge of ripping out my hair from annoyance at all those pet names.

On a more positive note, I found the hurt/comfort scenes to be cute. I think Cameron went a little overboard with how much he wanted to care for Adalyn, but I’d never read such intense hurt/comfort scenes in a book before so I enjoyed seeing how that trope could play out in a contemporary romance.

The only other thing I liked about the book were the cats. I loved how the cats played into the story.

As you can probably tell, I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. Unless Elena Armas’ characters and writing are drastically different in her other stories, I don’t think her books are for me. I think some people will like this book, but I just couldn’t find myself enjoying the time that I spent reading this book.

After being devastated that Ted Lasso has come to an end, I was extremely excited to pick up this soccer based rom-com from Elena Armas.

The Long Game follows Adalyn as she is removed from her position at her soccer club with the Miami Flames and sent to the small town of Green Oaks North Caroline to work with a local soccer team. There, she bumps into former soccer star. Cameron Caladini (think Roy Kent) who is there to help. While their relationship definitely has a bumpy start, it ends up being so much more.

While I know so many people will love this book, this wasn't my cup of tea. There were definitely aspects I enjoyed (the soccer coaching of the children's team -- so cute, the exploration of a small town, Cam for the most part, the dual narrations) but some of the story just didn't leave me invested. It felt bumpy to me and a bit all over the place too.

if you're a big fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope and Armas' previous books, however, you will LOVE this book! Check out on 9/6.

Thank you Net Galley and Atria books for the ARC!

3.5 ⭐️

I LOVED The Spanish Love Deception, so I will pretty much read anything Elena writes now! 🥰

I will say that this book was a bit of a miss for me. I didn’t connect with the characters and the story as much as I hoped too! But, reading is subjective and I will absolutely continue to read what she writes! ❤️

Love small town romance because of all the quirky characters, even the animal appearances were amazing. The girls soccer team stole my heart, they are cute so funny and amazing scene stealers. This is the kind of book that reads like a film. Read with a smile the entire time, I was fully entertained. Cameron the ultimate grump setting unrealistic expectations for any real life grumps. Cameron is perfection.

I almost hate to write this review... because I really did love The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate - but sadly, The Long Game completely missed the mark for me. There were SO many grammatical errors and typos - yes, I know this is an ARC, so I'm not lessening my rating based on this, but they were so blatant and plentiful that they were hard to ignore (and I really did try!)

Cam.... where do I start? He went from reclusive/socially anxious to town hero to dirty talking lover boy - it was all very confusing. And for.the.love, is he a human or an animal because he must have "growled" at least once on every other page. I'm all about a well-placed growl here and there (esp in those spicy scenes), but this was excessive.
The chemistry between the main characters was.... odd. They were't really enemies (or had no reason to be) but then seemed to turn to lovers pretty quickly. The entire story felt very choppy and unfinished. I was often left wanting more... there were several chapters that ended abruptly and the next would begin in a completely different day/time frame. It was frustrating because I wanted to know "HOW DID THEY GET THERE?!" It just felt like there were missing pieces - in the story, the characters, and the overall feel of the book. (And seriously - the ending... that felt so unnecessary and just... huh?!)
I love Elena Armas, but I did not love The Long Game.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Long Game is a dual POV contemporary centered around two very different people experiencing the fallout after traumatic events. Adalyn, our FMC, is organized, ambitious and desperate to prove to her father that she deserves to inherit their MLS team, the Miami Flames. This plan goes awry when *something* provokes professional, composed Adalyn to go full “Lady Birdinator” on the team’s mascot, Sparkles in a VERY public way. The ensuing publicity nightmare causes Adalyn’s dad to exile her to rural North Carolina where she meets Cameron, a former MLS star seemingly hiding out incognito for *mysterious reasons.* Sparks fly between Cam and Adalyn—but not in a hot way for most of the book where they bicker until enemies, well, ya know, become lovers. Cam is grumpy and pretty awful at the beginning, but eventually shows that he’s good-hearted. I loved the small-town setting, supporting cast (the girls’ soccer team, cats and goats were my fave!), and the when things FINALLY got swoony. Read the Long Game if you’re down for a character-driven contemporary, with two characters deserving of happiness and a fresh start.

The Long Game almost felt like it was written just for me. It was as close to perfect as it gets in regards to my taste.It was slow burn at its finest, but also had so much romance. The entire book was full of wonderful and romantic scenes.So yes, I'm a little bit in love with this novel. And I won't forget it anytime soon. It will go on my most favorite books of 2023 list.

I enjoyed this for the most part. The romance was cute once it kicked into the story but at first the chemistry was so "slow burn" it was almost non-existent, making the story more women's fiction than romance. Aspects of the story were a little gimmicky and surface level that I thought we get a more depth telling of but about half way through it really picked it up for me. I'm glad this author's writing is so engaging and I stuck with it and enjoyed it overall.

honestly didn’t really care for the first couple chapters—a bit over the top—but once things settled at lazy elk lodge it got harder and harder to put the book down! both cam & adalyn grew on me, and i couldn’t wait for them to find their happy ending. the little league kids and green oak residents (josie!) were great, too. can’t wait for the next one!

#netgalley